A CHARITY ambassador has returned from a remarkable trip to Rwanda where she saw how the money they raised helps to transform people’s lives.

Wendy Martin from Hinckley joined eight other members of the Send a Cow team to travel to Africa and meet families that have benefitted from the work the charity does.

In 1994 Rwanda was torn apart by a genocide, in which almost a million people were killed, and thousands more fled the country.

Wendy’s first stop was the Send a Cow office then a visit to the Gako Training Centre, set up by the charity, where beneficiaries receive training in sustainable organic agriculture and livestock management.

They then moved on to the Twiyubake project, in the Eastern province, where they were greeted with singing and dancing before visiting the farm of Ruth Nyirabeza, the chairman of the Twiyubake project, who was widowed in the genocide. She proudly showed them her well-fed cow that she received from the charity and told them how her life had been transformed.

Wendy, a retired headteacher, said: “I was truly amazed to see the number and variety of vegetables growing from the keyhole gardens; peppers, spinach, kale, and beetroot. Because of Send a Cow’s expert training, families are able to totally change their lives by selling and eating vegetables and have gone on to start local businesses which have really improved the communities that have been so scarred with the effects of war. I feel so fortunate to have met all these brave, determined individuals who have worked so hard to improve their lives.

“A cow and a keyhole garden can make the difference between abject poverty and a happy, well-nourished family. I have come home with renewed determination and have begun work on a new presentation about Send a Cow in Rwanda.”